Mothers in the Patriarchal Order of the Priesthood

Many years ago when I served on the high council, our bishop invited me to speak to our ward on the topic of The Patriarchal Order of the Priesthood. It was Fathers' Day. When I stood to speak, the clock said I had less than three minutes before the scheduled end of the meeting. I briefly bore my testimony and said I would come back and give that talk someday.

Last week at the end of the meeting block, I was approached by the executive secretary who said the bishopric had requested that I be the concluding speaker for our upcoming Mothers' Day program. I was asked, not surprisingly, to center my remarks around mothers. My mind immediately flashed back to that Fathers' Day, and I knew instantly what I would say. I'll make it easy for anyone to use all of this in whole or in part if you have a similar assignment on Mothers' Day or Fathers' Day.

My topic for Mothers' Day is the same as it would have been for Fathers' Day. My desire is to teach the doctrine so plainly and simply that no one can possibly misunderstand. The words of prophets I will cite are my own words. The doctrine has governed our lives since the day Patsy and I first discussed the possibility of marriage.

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith taught there were three orders of the priesthood: Levitical (Aaronic), Patriarchal and Melchizedek. When a man and a woman kneel across an altar in a temple from each other, they are conditionally admitted into the patriarchal order of the priesthood known as the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. If they are true and faithful to their covenant, the time will come when they are given the unconditional promise of eternal life.

The name of this priesthood order should be obvious because patriarch means father. There are no fathers without mothers and there are no mothers without fathers. In this way couples receive their formative lessons in Godhood and take their first steps together toward returning to full fellowship with God.

In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; and if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase. (D&C 131:1-4).

Elder John A. Widstoe

In other words, he has no kingdom that can grow and increase by the power of the seeds worlds without end. The power of the fullness and continuation of the procreative seeds forever is at the very core of Godhood. Elder John A. Widstoe said, “The government of heaven is by families. It is patriarchal.” (Gospel Interpretations: Aids to Faith in a Modern Day [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1947], 100).

I am aware, intimately and personally, there are both men and women who for reasons not of their choosing are unable to enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage while in this life. Also, there are many who are unable to bear children here and now. A long succession of living prophets in this dispensation has promised faithful saints in this condition they will be denied none of the blessings I shall mention. There are no expiration dates on priesthood blessings and promises if faithful observance of covenants is in evidence.

It is written of those who do enter into the patriarchal order and faithfully keep all the laws, rites and ordinances pertaining thereto:

. . .they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. Then shall they be gods, because they have no end. . . . This is eternal lives. . . (D&C 132:19-24).

Exaltation is nothing less than the fullness and continuation of the seeds of procreation forever and ever. The continuation of lives has no end, even eternal lives. Exaltation requires eternal parenthood, eternal parenthood requires eternal marriage.

President Joseph F. Smith

In 1913, President Joseph F. Smith said:

The house of the Lord is a house of order and not a house of confusion; and that means, that the man is not without the woman in the Lord, neither is the woman without the man in the Lord; and that no man can be saved and exalted in the kingdom of God, without the woman, and no woman can reach the perfection and exaltation in the kingdom of God, alone. That is what it means. God instituted marriage in the beginning, he made man in his own image and likeness, male and female, and in their creation it was designed that they should be united together in sacred bonds of marriage, and one is not perfect without the other.

Furthermore, it means that there is no union for time and eternity that can be consummated outside of the law of God, and the order of his house. Men may desire it, they may go through the form of it in this life, but it will be of none effect except it be done and sanctioned by divine authority, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. (CR, April 1913, 118-19, emphasis mine).

It is important to understand that those who enter the new and everlasting covenant of marriage are not covenanting to keep the commandments in general. They have already made those covenants in the waters of baptism. When entering the patriarchal order of the priesthood together in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, the bride’s and groom’s promises are much more specific; they promise to keep laws, rites and ordinances that pertain to marriage.

President Joseph Fielding Smith

In 1972, President Joseph Fielding Smith emphasized:

There is nothing that will ever come into your family life that is as important as the sealing blessings of the temple and then keeping the covenants made in connection with this order of celestial marriage. (Ensign, July 1972, 27).

Obviously, we must take such sacred promises seriously and think deeply and honestly about their meaning and import. What are the laws, rites and ordinances of marriage?

The first marriage was performed by God when he joined Adam and Eve together. (See Genesis 2:20-24). Note that Eve is called Adam’s “wife.” This was an eternal marriage, as they were both infinite and eternal beings at the time.

The Law of Marriage

What was the great commandment or law given to Adam and Eve? (See Genesis 1:26-27). It was to “multiply and replenish.” The word “replenish” should be translated “fill.” (See Genesis 1:28, footnote “c;” note also verse 22 where the same Hebrew verb is used interchangeably).

God commanded them to multiply. This law applies to all who enter the order of marriage. This is the first and great law of marriage -- we are commanded to multiply and fill the earth, that we might have joy in our posterity. Imagine that! We are commanded to be joyful!

President Ezra Taft Benson

In 1988, President Ezra Taft Benson testified:

I can assure that the greatest responsibility and the greatest joys in life are centered in the family, honorable marriage, and rearing a righteous posterity. (Ensign, May 1988, 52).

The Rite of Marriage

What is the rite or ritual that applies to marriage? It is the rite or ritual of “sexual union,” or “the passing of the seed.” Many will say sexual relations between a man and a woman can easily be accomplished outside the bounds of marriage and it is perfectly legal under the laws of the land, because we see that fact played out on TV nearly every night. Adultery, fornication and homosexuality are rampant, perfectly acceptable and legal in society today, but sexual relations between unmarried men and women are forbidden by God regardless of whatever societal norms or the laws of the land may permit.

Furthermore, we understand God eternally accepts and ratifies only an eternal marriage when men, women and children are sealed by his authority, and only that marriage will continue to retain the priesthood power of the seeds forever if they remain faithful. (See D&C 132:15-24).

President Spencer W. Kimball

In 1975, President Spencer W. Kimball taught:

We do not raise children just to please our vanity. We bring children into the world to become kings and queens, and priests and priestesses for our Lord. (In General Conference Report, Buenos Aires Area Conference 1975, 26).

The Ordinance of Marriage

Now a word about the ordinance we covenant to observe and obey in this order of marriage. The law is to multiply by the rite of holy sexual union to form a living soul, so the ordinance associated with marriage should be obvious.

Birth is the first great ordinance of this life, or the first “living endowment” of this life. Truly, this is a most wondrous and miraculous ordinance. In this holy ordinance a spirit child of God is endowed with a physical body. This physical body must be obtained in order to have all “power over those who have not.” (See TPJS, 181). This physical body is necessary to receive a fullness of joy. (See D&C 93:33-34). This physical body is a prerequisite to becoming a God. (See D&C 130: 22). This physical body is the main object of our coming to earth. (See TPJS, 181). We will each take this physical body with us into the eternities by observing and keeping the priesthood ordinance of resurrection. (See JD 15:137; D&C 88:15-16, 27-29). It is hard to imagine a holier priesthood ordinance in this world than the first priesthood ordinance we call birth.

President Kimball glories in the possibilities of motherhood:

Mothers have a sacred role. They are partners with God, as well as with their own husbands, first in giving birth to the Lord’s spirit children, and then in rearing those children so they will serve the Lord and keep his commandments. Could there be a more sacred trust than to be a trustee for honorable, well-born, well-developed children? (TSWK, 326).

President George Albert Smith

In 1907, President George Albert Smith:

How will those feel who fail to obey that first great command when they stand in the presence of the creator, who says to them, as He said to those of olden times, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” How can they comply with that invitation if they have no children to take to the Father? . . . I realize there are some men and women who are grieved because they are not fathers and mothers, they are not blessed of the Lord in that particular, they have no children of their own, and by no fault of their own. I believe the Lord will provide in such cases. (CR, October 1907, 38).

President Joseph Fielding Smith:

If the responsibilities of parenthood are willfully avoided here, then how can the Lord bestow upon the guilty the blessings of eternal increase? It cannot be, and they shall be denied such blessings. (The Way to Perfection, 239).

President Brigham Young

President Brigham Young:

There are multitudes of pure and holy spirits waiting to take tabernacles, now what is our duty? -- To prepare tabernacles for them; to take a course that will not tend to drive those spirits into the families of the wicked, where they will be trained in wickedness, debauchery, and every species of crime. It is the duty of every righteous man and women to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can. (Discourses of Brigham Young, John A. Widstoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1941], 197).

The daughters of God are under covenant just as much as the sons of God to keep his commandments, and to diligently perform their assigned duties on earth. The Doctrine and Covenants says the daughters of God are given in marriage to the sons of God

. . . to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfill the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified. (D&C 132:63).

God’s work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (See Moses 1:39). He cannot bring to pass the immortality of man if his mortal sons and daughters thwart the work of bringing to pass the mortality of man. This is not an idle cliché we hear frequently in the Church, nor has the doctrine been outdated by the current conditions of a godless society. The prophets have consistently laid stress on our part of the work and glory of God.

Elder Melvin J. Ballard

Elder Melvin J. Ballard said:

There is a passage in our Scriptures which the Latter-day Saints accept as divine: “This is the glory of God -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Likewise we could say that this is the glory of men and women -- to bring to pass the mortality of sons and daughters of God, to give earth-life to the waiting children of our Father. . . The greatest mission of woman is to give life, earth-life, through honorable marriage, to the waiting spirits, our Father’s spirit children who anxiously desire to come to dwell here in this mortal state. All the honor and glory that can come to men or women by the development of their talents, the homage and the praise they may receive from an applauding world, worshipping at their shrine of genius, is but a dim thing whose luster shall fade in comparison to the high honor, the eternal glory, the ever-enduring happiness that shall come to the woman who fulfills the first great duty and mission that devolves upon her to become the mother of the sons and daughters of God. The jewels in her crown, the stars that still glisten in her diadem, in time and in eternity, shall be the sons and the daughters to whom, through the blessing of the Lord, she has been instrumental in not only giving earth-life, but in bringing them, through care and devotion and faithfulness, into the paths that God has appointed for his children to follow. . . (Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard, 203-4).

The prophets have been consistently clear on this important doctrine throughout the entire dispensation. They have taught, counseled and warned the saints these truths have eternal ramifications, and that the saints will be blessed if they are faithful to their covenants. Joseph Smith prophesied “the day would come when none but the women of the Latter-day Saints would be willing to bear children,” and his words are sadly coming to pass. (See Joseph Smith The Prophet, Truman G. Madsen, 39).

I plead with you, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to stand with truth, stand with God, stand with the leaders of the Church, teach the doctrine I have outlined here boldly and without apology amid the evils and sophistries of man in this wicked world. Reach out in love and patience to those who are blinded by the craftiness of others and have gone astray, restore unto them their sight of these promises and blessings and the hope of eternal life.

No matter how unpopular or inconvenient it may become, the priest and priestess must be diligent in their respective duties, if the couple is to obtain the exaltation the Lord has promised those who keep the laws, rites and ordinances of marriage in the patriarchal order of the priesthood. These solemn promises and covenants are most sacred. Of the reality of the Author of these truths I humbly testify.

A Lifetime of Being "Truly Converted"

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we talk a lot about being "truly converted." There seems to be a silent gradation of testimony among the members. Being converted is not the same as being "truly" converted. Being converted once upon a time is not sufficient to carry one throughout life in mortality. The quality of one's conversion is a lifetime pursuit, one never to be taken for granted or guaranteed for even a moment.

President Lorenzo Snow

Tomorrow's Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society lesson throughout the Church will come from the teachings of President Lorenzo Snow, who tells a moving story about how he initially acquired his testimony. He was baptized and confirmed in June 1836 at the age of 22. Later, he wrote: “I believed they [the Latter-day Saints] had the true religion, and I joined the Church. So far my conversion was merely a matter of reason.” He remembered, “I was perfectly satisfied that I had done what was wisdom for me to do under the circumstances.” Although he was content for a time with this understanding, he soon yearned for a special manifestation of the Holy Ghost. He said, “I had had no manifestation, but I expected one.”

The key element of his story that leaped from the page for me was "I expected one." Do we expect to have spiritual gifts in our lives today? Do we expect answers to our prayers when we offer up our petitions to a loving Father in Heaven? Do we expect to receive eternal life through our faithfulness? It is a common expression among prophets I have known personally to expect miracles when they lay their hands on someone's head. I include in my definition of "prophets" both those who are set apart specifically to lead the Church and those who are not leading anyone but their family members.

Lorenzo Snow continues: “This manifestation did not immediately follow my baptism, as I expected,” he recalled. “But, although the time was deferred, when I did receive it, its realization was more perfect, tangible and miraculous than even my strongest hopes had led me to anticipate. One day while engaged in my studies, some two or three weeks after I was baptized, I began to reflect upon the fact that I had not obtained a knowledge of the truth of the work — that I had not realized the fulfillment of the promise: ‘He that doeth my will shall know of the doctrine;’ [see John 7:17] and I began to feel very uneasy.

“I laid aside my books, left the house and wandered around through the fields under the oppressive influence of a gloomy, disconsolate spirit, while an indescribable cloud of darkness seemed to envelop me. I had been accustomed, at the close of the day, to retire for secret prayer to a grove, a short distance from my lodgings, but at this time I felt no inclination to do so.

“The spirit of prayer had departed, and the heavens seemed like brass over my head. At length, realizing that the usual time had come for secret prayer, I concluded I would not forego my evening service, and, as a matter of formality, knelt as I was in the habit of doing, and in my accustomed retired place, but not feeling as I was wont to feel."

Have you experienced the "indescribable cloud of darkness," doubt and even fear in your pursuit of the truth about God? Have you felt discouraged in that pursuit? Have you ignored the promptings you've felt to seek a higher path in spirituality, regardless of which of the many paths leading to religious endeavor you have pursued? This experience of Lorenzo Snow seems all too typical in the mortal realm. It is certainly reminiscent of what happened to Joseph Smith in another grove of trees in upper state New York on a spring morning in 1830. It seems consistent with everyone I have ever known who has confronted and overcome the powers of evil so prevalent in our lives today. That Satan would do all in his power to dismantle one's faith in the pursuit of the knowledge God has promised us should not come as a big surprise.

Then in that moment of despair, Lorenzo continues: “I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray, than I heard a sound, just above my head, like the rustling of silken robes, and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt! No language can describe the instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of mental and spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge, as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I then received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, and the fulness of the gospel.

“It was a complete baptism — a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost; and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water; dispelling forever, so long as reason and memory last, all possibility of doubt or fear in relation to the fact handed down to us historically, that the ‘Babe of Bethlehem’ is truly the Son of God; also the fact that He is now being revealed to the children of men, and communicating knowledge, the same as in the apostolic times. I was perfectly satisfied, as well I might be, for my expectations were more than realized, I think I may safely say, in an infinite degree.

“I cannot tell how long I remained in the full flow of this blissful enjoyment and divine enlightenment, but it was several minutes before the celestial element, which filled and surrounded me, began gradually to withdraw. On arising from my kneeling posture, with my heart swelling with gratitude to God beyond the power of expression, I felt — I knew that he had conferred on me what only an Omnipotent Being can confer — that which is of greater value than all the wealth and honors worlds can bestow.” (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, Chapter 3).

Unlike the "born-again" Christians, many of whom can point to a once-in-a-lifetime moment where they opened their heart to God and received a witness, Lorenzo Snow went forward growing in faith and light and truth from that moment on, never wavering in his formative experience with the witness he received from the Holy Ghost.

And so it is and must be with each of us. We do not believe in a "once and done" kind of conversion. True conversion is a lifetime pursuit. Our initial introduction to the power of the Holy Ghost is only a good beginning.

Later in his life, reflecting upon this early experience, President Snow said: "The foundation upon which we have placed our faith is grand and glorious. I know this for myself. I had been in this Church but a short time when I succeeded in securing the most perfect knowledge that there was a God, that there was a Son, Jesus Christ, and that Joseph Smith was acknowledged of God as His prophet. It was a knowledge that no man could communicate. It came through a revelation from the Almighty. That is a very good starting point for a Latter-day Saint, and it is something that every person, who has any ambition at all to advance in this path, will need at some time or other. He will come into circumstances of such a nature that he will need strength, and that strength will come from a knowledge of the fact that the path in which he is traveling will lead him to the possession of his highest and best desires." (Ibid., emphasis mine).

All who seek truth independently and sincerely are offered this promise at the end of The Book of Mormon:

"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:3-5).

What person living on the earth today would not want to know and understand "the truth of all things?" In a world filled with contradictory voices seeking to influence others in so many disparate paths, who would not welcome the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide them unerringly back into God's presence? Who would not welcome the gift of discernment to be enabled to sift and distill truth from the chaff that blows in the wind of public opinion indiscriminately?

Lorenzo Snow believed spiritually what he came to know at first only intellectually. He believed the pursuit of light and truth was an ongoing endeavor. Said he, so long ago: "I feel that the Latter-day Saints are advancing; that they are receiving an education. We are getting up higher and higher. We are advancing to a higher condition and sphere and to a higher plane, and we are receiving such an education that the wisdom of the world with all its attainments and false doctrines and principles, will have no effect upon the Latter-day Saints, for they are rising above the theories and hypothesis of human inventions and soaring in things of truth that raise the mind, exalt the understanding, and establishing them[selves] more and more fully in the true principles of life and glory. We are filled in our hearts with these truths and we cannot tell the day or the hour in which our faith has been increased, but we feel, when we look back over the last week, month or year, that we have increased in faith and in the knowledge of faith and power of God; we know that we have got nearer our God and we feel that we are in fellowship with God our Father." (Ibid.).

So my question to all of us is this: How is it we can constantly "be soaring in things of truth" day by day? By what instrumentality is it possible? What is required on our part to make this a reality as we pursue our goals here in mortality? How is it our spiritual progress can be ongoing when our "mortality" constantly impedes our innate desires for spiritual growth?

President Snow has an answer: "Every man has got to learn to stand upon his own knowledge; he cannot depend upon his neighbor; every man must be independent; he must depend upon his God for himself entirely. It depends upon himself to see if he will stem the tide of trouble and overcome the impediments that are strewn in the pathway of life to prevent his progress. A man can get information by the operations of the Holy Spirit, and he approaches to God and increases in his faith in proportion as he is diligent." (Ibid.).

So what is required on our part is diligence. I believe it is inherent in our quest for truth that we become more consistent, more earnest, more inclined to be involved in spiritual pursuits. That includes our reading materials, our proximity to spiritual things, and the choice of our companions in life. Like singing, it is much easier to carry a tune when standing next to an accomplished singer in a choir. Our choice of what we permit into our lives to influence us is in direct proportion to the degree we rise in light and truth. If you want to know whether Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw, don't ask your local Catholic priest what he thinks about it. You can go to God personally in prayer and ask a simple question: "Heavenly Father, did you really call Joseph Smith as a latter-day prophet to restore the ancient church, and did you appear to him in a grove of trees in Palmyra, New York?" That might be followed by a sincere question, "Is The Book of Mormon really true?"

Too many times in life, I believe we do not really want to know the answers to difficult questions for fear we might learn the truth then have to actually do something about the knowledge we receive. And that involves change, something we humans seem loathe to undertake. As I grow older some things tend to go up with little or no effort required by me - my blood pressure, my cholesterol and my weight. Ignoring these vital risk factors with my family history is something I cannot afford to do. Not knowing those numbers actually CAN hurt me, just as not knowing the truth about God and our relationship to Him can hurt us when we are not diligent in seeking Him. Once we are on task, diligently involved in our own individual struggles with the aid of the Holy Ghost to guide us, we begin to accelerate in our spiritual quest. As with my charting my health risk factors which I desire to watch go down, down, down, the inverse relationship with spiritual matters must ideally look like a graph line going up, up, up. These are all individual matters and must be pursued diligently, as President Lorenzo Snow suggests.

In 1882, he would observe, "There are men among us upon whom the Spirit of the Almighty once rested mightily, whose intentions were once as good and pure as those of angels, and who made covenants with God that they would serve Him and keep His commandments under every and all circumstances. . . But how is it now with some of those Elders? They do not feel so to-day. Their affections are set upon the things of this world which the Lord has enabled them to acquire, that they wait now until they are called, and in many instances when called, they obey more out of a desire to retain their standing and position, than a real heart-felt love of the labor to which they may have been called.

"This is the condition of all men, no matter how well they start out, who allow their thoughts and affections to run after the world and its ways, and it is a plain and indisputable proof that when this is the case with men they love the world more than they love the Lord and His work upon the earth. Having received the light of the everlasting Gospel, and partaken of the good things of the kingdom, and being of the seed of Israel and heirs to great and glorious promises, we should labor with fidelity and diligence to accomplish what God has designed to do through us; we should be men and women of faith and power as well as good works, and when we discover ourselves careless or indifferent in the least, it should be sufficient for us to know it in order to mend our ways and return to the path of duty." (Ibid.).

True conversion, lasting lifetime conversion, consists not in making merely a good beginning. There were dozens of men who were close to the Prophet Joseph Smith and had many visions, manifestations, and visitations from heavenly messengers. How, one would ask, could such men then lose their way spiritually? Ask yourselves, if an angel were to appear to me, show me the gold plates from which Joseph translated The Book of Mormon, and then bear a solemn witness to me that God lives and Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, would I ever depart from that sure knowledge? Yet many did, even some in the upper room of the Whitney Store in Kirtland who were eyewitnesses of a visitation from the Father and the Son. Some rebelled against Joseph's leadership, as President Snow attests. There truly is a witness more powerful than sight.

It behooves each of us to wake up if we are currently asleep spiritually. When all that we hold dear in this mortality is stripped away, what will we still possess? It will be the priceless witness of who we are as spiritually begotten sons and daughters of God, redeemed from our fallen condition by the Lord Jesus Christ. We must come to understand that absolute truth by the power of the Holy Ghost and know that Joseph Smith restored these precious truths in our day, that we are led by true prophets today, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church upon the earth today that is infinitely and eternally sanctioned by God. (D&C 1:30).

Concludes President Snow: "And if there is any man or woman that is not fairly awake, may the time soon come that the Spirit and power of the Holy Ghost may be upon them, that it may teach them things past, present and to come, and by the assistance of the Lord, plant righteousness and the principle of truth in their systems, that they may be prepared for the storms that are coming." (Ibid.).

The storms will surely come. They will be more intense as time unfolds. Many of the storms of life have already battered us. We wonder how it could be worse than it has already been. But many more will follow. We can find our anchor in Jesus Christ. Said Nephi: "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen." (2 Nephi 31:20-21).

Elder John A. Widtsoe

Let me offer one final word to those who are troubled by all the political upheaval we are witnessing in America and around the world today. In the midst of the World War II, an almost unimaginable international conflagration the modern world had seldom known, Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles counseled people who were worried back then. Nazism was on the march, there was war in the Pacific, and nation after nation seemed to be drawn into war. This is what Brother Widtsoe said in 1942:

"Above the roar of cannon and airplane, the maneuvers and plans of men, the Lord always determines the tide of battle. So far and no farther does He permit the evil one to go in his career to create human misery. The Lord is ever victorious; He is the Master to whose will Satan is subject. Though all hell may rage, and men may follow evil, the purposes of the Lord will not fail." (Conference Report, April 1942, 34).

We are reminded: "The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round. Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men." (D&C 3:1-3).

No matter what happens to America in the second term of President Barack Obama, the future is known in advance by God our Heavenly Father, and you may rest assured He has made ample provision for all the contingencies. Let your testimony of God's existence and His reality grow and flourish in the meantime, for He will never leave you comfortless if you are truly converted.